Should Beagle Man be asking Steve the Breeder for his money back? I know, I know, this sounds pretty petty, especially coming from me, the dog Kemba replaced. But seriously — isn’t he
supposed to be a Duck Tolling Retriever? Yeah, sure, the retrieving part, he’s awesome at that: If B-Man throws a tennis ball in the water, Kemba’s all over it; it’s as if his life depends on it. A stick? Same thing. But where’s that sense of urgency when it comes to ducks? As you can see in the photo, ducks were paddling around not 10 feet from him at Lake Mohegan, and Kemba wouldn’t give them the time of day. And apparently, the feeling was mutual: The ducks didn’t even flinch when the K-Dawg splashed around almost right on top of them! I noticed the same thing in April of 2015, on the B-Man’s fourth cross-country road trip — the first time he did it without me, I might add. They were in San Rafael (Marin County), in a public park with formal gardens and decorative ponds — and NO DOGS IN THE WATER signs posted everywhere. Beagle Man spotted a raft of ducks and was sure Kemba was going to charge in after them and get himself in trouble . . . but no, he only had eyes for his freakin’ tennis ball. Look, I’ve said it over and over again: Young Kemba is one cool dude —but a dog’s supposed to do his job. What would the B-Man have thought of me if I couldn’t follow a scent? Just sayin’ . . .
The Roof Rack Report (#roofrackreport on Twitter, for those who follow me already on @BeagleManHank) used to appear regularly on Mondays. Now it appears once in a blue moon, when Beagle Man deigns to give me some space . . .
Miss you Ricky!
I guess Kemba had to be taught his duck tolling duties when he was a pup by his Mom and/or Dad and somehow he missed this training. Probably too busy chasing tennis balls to notice what his litter mates were doing. Sad news, Jayne’s twelve year old dog, Suka, was released this week. She had some kind of cancer and managed to hang on until after Jayne and Stan’s wedding, May 14th.
Happy news about the wedding! Sad news about Suka 🙁